Likkutei Amarim Chapter 23 · 5785

00:00 Speaker 1 Okay, we’re at chapter 23. The Alter Rebbe begins this chapter with the words, “With all the above, it will be well understood and explained.” In other words, what we want to say becomes clear from what we explained earlier.

00:22 Speaker 2 Do you want the air conditioner?

00:23 Speaker 6 No, but we need some air. I’ve got some.

00:27 Speaker 2 Here’s the air.

00:28 Speaker 6 There’s something—do you want it with a screen, or…?

00:35 Speaker 2 At night. We already have mosquitoes, far too many mosquitoes.

00:49 Speaker 1 What is “all the above”? Why does he say “all the above”? What does he mean? What did we explain earlier? “With all the above”—with everything we explained earlier—what the Zohar says will be understood. What is “all the above”?

01:06 Speaker 2 Chapter 22.

01:08 Speaker 1 Everything we explained in chapters 20, 21 and 22. Now we can begin to explain the matter. Where are we up to? Earlier, at the beginning of the discussion, in chapters 18 and 19, he explained that every Jew has a divine soul, and that divine soul has a hidden love. When a person faces a test of faith, the divine soul responds immediately; it immediately bursts forth. The moment a person is told, “Convert to Christianity, change your religion,” his entire divine soul immediately rises to the occasion, digs in its heels and bursts forth, and he cannot do it. It isn’t a conscious thing, or something he can control. Once the divine soul awakens, he won’t commit any sin. He won’t worship idols, convert to Christianity or change his religion. His divine soul will awaken, and he’ll die rather than do it. That is what chapters 18 and 19 said. Every Jew has a hidden love. What does “hidden love” mean? It means that every Jew has this nature in his divine soul: when someone tries to make him abandon his faith, he cannot do it. That love awakens, and he cannot do it. How does that help us? After all, a person isn’t tested in matters of faith every day. How does it help us to have a divine soul that responds when we face such a test, G-d forbid? How many people have the “privilege,” in quotation marks, of facing a test like that? It doesn’t happen to everyone. How do we get this tremendous love of Hashem to awaken and live with it day to day, in ordinary life? So the Rebbe said that to understand this, we need to explain how each and every mitzvah is a particular expression of the commandments “I am Hashem your G-d” and “You shall have no other gods.” “I am Hashem your G-d” is a commandment to believe

03:23 Speaker 1 in Hashem. “You shall have no other gods before Me” is a commandment not to deny Him. The Alter Rebbe says that all the positive commandments are particular expressions of the commandment concerning Hashem’s oneness, of “I am Hashem your G-d,” and all the negative commandments are, in effect, particular expressions of “You shall have no other gods”—particular forms of the prohibition against denying Him. So suppose I’m just going about my life, and an opportunity to commit some sin comes up—some little sin, nothing major, one of those sins a person tramples underfoot. If, at that moment, I think about the fact that committing this sin, however small, is exactly the same as denying Hashem through idolatry, I won’t do it. My divine soul won’t let me. It will awaken, and I simply won’t be able to commit that sin. The same goes for a positive commandment. There’s a positive commandment, but I’m feeling lazy; it’s hard for me. Right? I need to say the bedtime Shema, and I’m already very tired. So I cut it short. Right? I need to say Tehillim, or whatever it may be. There’s some positive commandment that he finds hard to do. If, when he reaches that breaking point, he remembers and reminds himself, “You know, this little thing is Hashem’s oneness. It isn’t merely like Hashem’s oneness. This mitzvah is ‘I am Hashem your G-d,’” then he will immediately awaken with tremendous vitality and do it. In other words, if we can explain that each and every mitzvah is literally the same as “I am Hashem your G-d” and “You shall have no other gods,” then it won’t be only a test of faith that brings the hidden love to light. Every mitzvah will be a test of faith for him, and with every mitzvah it

05:38 Speaker 1 will awaken. And this hidden love has tremendous power. When it awakens, he’ll observe all the mitzvos and won’t commit sins. Right? That’s what we want to explain. Now, to explain that, we first need to explain something else. To explain that all the mitzvos are particular expressions of the commandment concerning Hashem’s oneness, we first need to explain what belief in Hashem’s oneness is, and what denial is. Right? What are Hashem’s oneness and denial? Hashem’s oneness means that there is nothing besides Him. Only Hakadosh Boruch Hu exists, and all the worlds are utterly nullified to Him. And when I see the world…

06:29 Speaker 7 I think we need to listen to these classes every day. Every day, before going to school, listen to them like this, every day. Then it’ll really sink in.

06:37 Speaker 1 And when I see the world as something that exists, that doesn’t mean it truly exists in its own right. The truth is that Hakadosh Boruch Hu brings the world into being anew from nothing at every moment. So the reality I see exists because Hakadosh Boruch Hu is giving it life right now. It exists because something is giving it life; the world doesn’t exist on its own. Hakadosh Boruch Hu gives it life, and so it exists. The existence of the world is nullified to the One who… And not only that: the word of Hashem that brings the worlds into being from nothing at every moment is itself not separate. It is included in its source and has no independent significance. So what does belief in Hashem’s oneness mean? Not what people generally think. What do people think it means to believe that Hashem is one? That there isn’t a second one. That’s how people understand it. What does belief in Hashem’s oneness mean? “I believe there is only one Hashem.” Meaning what? That there aren’t two. That’s how everyone explains it, right? But the Alter Rebbe explains: No, that isn’t the point at all. Would anyone even imagine—how did he put it at the beginning of the previous chapter? It says, “Know that Hashem is G-d in the heavens above and on the earth below; there is nothing else.” What does “below the earth” mean? It says that beneath the earth are the waters of the deep. There’s the earth, and beneath it are the waters of the deep. That’s mentioned in the Gemara in several places. So what might a person think? There is Hakadosh Boruch Hu in heaven, but perhaps, he might think, there’s another one in the depths beneath the earth. Who would think such a thing? No sensible person would. So what is the belief in Hashem’s oneness telling us to believe? Not that there is no

08:39 Speaker 1 other god, but that there is nothing else. Nothing else at all. The entire existence of the world is Him. That is what Hashem’s oneness means. Ah, so why do I see the world as something that exists? Because this is concealed from me. The world appears to me to have an independent existence not because it really does, but because Hakadosh Boruch Hu conceals the truth from me. Right? So what is the difference between holiness and kelipos and sitra achra? Holiness is something that is nullified to Hakadosh Boruch Hu. It perceives Him; it understands and senses the true reality. Kelipos and sitra achra do not sense the true reality and see themselves as separate entities. Right? That’s the whole difference. The Alter Rebbe says: “With all the above, it will be understood and explained further” what the Zohar says: “The Torah and Hakadosh Boruch Hu are entirely one,” and in Tikkunei Zohar they explain that “the 248 commandments are the 248 limbs of the King.” According to this explanation, the truth is that the whole world is nullified to G-dliness. And those things that are not nullified to G-dliness—why is that? It isn’t because they truly are not nullified. It’s because they don’t perceive it. What does denial mean? That a person doesn’t perceive it; G-dliness is concealed from him. The entire difference between holiness and kelipah is revelation versus concealment. In holiness, G-dliness is revealed; in kelipah, G-dliness is concealed. That’s the whole difference. If so, that is also the difference between Torah and mitzvos and the rest of the world. What are Torah and mitzvos? Torah is what Hakadosh Boruch Hu understands, thinks and wants. Mitzvos—sorry, Torah is what Hakadosh Boruch Hu, so to speak, understands and wants. Mitzvos are what Hakadosh Boruch Hu wants. Torah and mitzvos are Him revealed. Here is what He understands; here is what He wants.

11:00 Speaker 8 But there are many levels. We read the plain meaning of the Torah, so you have to know how to learn.

11:06 Speaker 1 In general, what is Torah? It is the wisdom of Hakadosh Boruch Hu. That is how He understands things. What are the mitzvos? That is what He wants. When you look at anything else in the world—anything at all: wind, the sun, a table, a house, a person, an animal—do you see anything about it that shows you what Hakadosh Boruch Hu wants or understands? You don’t see anything. Concealment and hiddenness. Right? So Torah and mitzvos reveal the will of Hakadosh Boruch Hu, while the rest of the world is concealment and hiddenness, kelipos and impurity. Simple, right? So the point of “I am” and “You shall have no other” doesn’t relate only to those particular commandments. It is the content of the entire Torah and all the mitzvos. What is the content of “I am”? Self-nullification to G-dliness. What is felt? What do we see? Only Hashem’s will. There is nothing besides Him. What are the whole Torah and all the mitzvos? What Hashem understands, what Hashem wants. It’s the same thing again. Right. What does denial mean? That a person doesn’t feel G-dliness, that G-dliness is hidden from him. He is distant from G-dliness; he feels himself to be separate. And what are all the prohibitions? Separating oneself from G-dliness. Right? So the Alter Rebbe says that, after everything we’ve discussed—after understanding the idea of Hashem’s unity—“With all the above, we can understand and explain in greater detail what is said in the Zohar: ‘The Torah and Hakadosh Boruch Hu are entirely one.’” The Torah and Hakadosh Boruch Hu are one. Why? Because the Torah reveals His wisdom. It reveals—actually, the Torah is His wisdom. It doesn’t reveal His wisdom; it is His wisdom. So it is one with Him, okay? Just as, for a person, “I and my wisdom” are one. If the Torah is His wisdom, then it is He Himself. And in Tikkunei Zohar they explained that “the 248 commandments are the 248 limbs of the King.” So there is, uh—

13:16 Speaker 1 The Zohar and Tikkunei Zohar. Are you familiar with them?

13:22 Speaker 9 What’s the difference?

13:23 Speaker 1 Um, there’s no difference. Not a big difference, anyway. They were both revealed and printed at the same time, in the same printing house, by the same printer, in the same year: the Zohar and Tikkunei Zohar. Both were written by Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. They were printed from the outset as two separate books. In other words, Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai wrote two books: one called the Zohar and one called Tikkunei Zohar.

13:56 Speaker 9 Is that Tikkun complete?

14:00 Speaker 1 The Zohar mainly follows the parshiyos of the Torah in order, while Tikkunei Zohar is about the first verse of Bereishis. Seventy teachings—seventy teachings on the first verse of Bereishis.

14:16 Speaker 9 A whole book on a verse like that?

14:18 Speaker 10 How beautiful.

14:22 Speaker 9 Wow.

14:22 Speaker 1 Maybe we’ll study the first one or two here sometime. It’s very interesting.

14:25 Speaker 9 Very.

14:25 Speaker 1 Yes, you can understand it. Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai explains one interpretation, and then each further interpretation is something completely different. Seventy interpretations of the first verse of Bereishis according to Kabbalah. So, in the Zohar it says that the Torah is one with Hakadosh Boruch Hu. In Tikkunei Zohar it says that the mitzvos are one with Hakadosh Boruch Hu. And when the Alter Rebbe refers to the Zohar, he says, “They said in the Zohar,” while for Tikkunei Zohar he says, “They explained in the Tikkunim.” What is the difference between “said” and “explained”? “Said” is what they said. “Explained” means they explained what they had said.

15:05 Speaker 9 Who is “they said”?

15:06 Speaker 1 Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai said it. Who is the “they” in “they said in the Zohar”? Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. And who “explained”? Also Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. In Tikkunei Zohar, Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai explained what he himself had said in the Zohar. In other words, in the Zohar itself he says that the Torah is united with Hakadosh Boruch Hu. In Tikkunei Zohar he explains his words: not only the Torah, but the mitzvos too are one with Hakadosh Boruch Hu. Why is that an explanation? And it isn’t exactly the same thing. So here the Alter Rebbe begins to explain the difference between Torah and mitzvos. But before that—we’ll get to it in a moment. The first line of the chapter says: “With all the above, it will be understood and clearly explained in greater detail” that the Torah and mitzvos are one with Hakadosh Boruch Hu. Why “in greater detail”? We’ve already explained it. If he says something will be explained in a chapter in greater detail, the Alter Rebbe is telling us, “I already explained this to you before.”

16:05 Speaker 9 No, he’s going to explain it. He’ll explain more.

16:07 Speaker 1 Further explanation. Further. Because I’ve explained something to you until now, and now I want to explain it with an addition. It wasn’t exactly in the last few chapters, but in chapter 5 of Tanya it says that through Torah study a person unites with Hakadosh Boruch Hu far more than through mitzvos. To the point that, through Torah study, his mind and heart become one with Hakadosh Boruch Hu “in a union like which there is none, nor anything comparable to it in the physical world: to become truly one, united from every side and direction.” That’s the wording there. So the Alter Rebbe says here that, based on the explanation above—what we’ve explained about Hashem’s unity—we’ll understand a person’s union with Hakadosh Boruch Hu through Torah and mitzvos in greater detail than I explained there. True, in chapter 5 of Tanya we already explained that through Torah study a person unites with Hakadosh Boruch Hu in the most complete way. But what is explained here is incomparably more complete. So let’s see how, through every mitzvah, we unite with Hakadosh Boruch Hu. That was the introduction. Up to now was the general idea. Now we begin studying the chapter itself. He explains it this way: Why are the mitzvos called, uh, “the limbs of the King”? And why do we unite with Hakadosh Boruch Hu through the mitzvos? Because “the mitzvos are the inner dimension of the supernal will and His true desire.” When a person wants something, there is what he truly wants and desires, and there are things that are only the external aspect of his will. Say I want to stay awake now, so I drink coffee. Drinking coffee is the external aspect of the will. The inner aspect is staying awake. That’s the purpose. So when Hakadosh Boruch Hu created all the worlds, what was the inner aspect of His will? Why did He create the worlds? So that—

18:10 Speaker 1 Jews would fulfill mitzvos. So fulfilling mitzvos is the inner dimension of His will. What is the external aspect of Hakadosh Boruch Hu’s will?

18:17 Speaker 9 The creation of the world.

18:18 Speaker 1 The creation of the world. What does the entire world live on? What sustains it? What gives it life? The external aspect of Hakadosh Boruch Hu’s will. What gives life to the mitzvos? The inner dimension of Hakadosh Boruch Hu’s will. “The mitzvos are the inner dimension of the supernal will and His true desire, which is invested in all the worlds”—meaning that His will is invested in all the worlds, but in the worlds it is the external aspect of His will, while in the mitzvos it is the inner dimension of His will—“to give them life. For all the life and sustenance of the worlds depend on the performance of mitzvos by those below, as is known. It follows that the performance and fulfillment of mitzvos are an inner garment for the inner dimension of the supernal will.” In other words, when a person fulfills a mitzvah, the will of Hakadosh Boruch Hu is now invested in the mitzvah he is performing. Right? The inner dimension of His will isn’t invested in the mere existence of the world. Only the external aspect of His will is invested in the mere existence of the worlds. Where is the inner dimension of Hakadosh Boruch Hu’s will invested and revealed? Only in the fulfillment of mitzvos. “For from this act, the act of the mitzvah, the light and vitality of the supernal will—the inner dimension of the will—are drawn down to be invested in the worlds.” And that is why the mitzvos are called—

19:47 Speaker 9 Hello! Welcome. Last week, Friday.

19:52 Speaker 1 Blessed are You, King of the universe, by Whose word everything came to be.

19:55 Speaker 9 Last week, Friday.

19:56 Speaker 11 Okay.

19:57 Speaker 9 Uh, last week.

19:58 Speaker 11 Yes.

19:59 Speaker 9 Uh, now I’m going back to my studies. Where were you?

20:03 Speaker 11 In Jerusalem.

20:05 Speaker 9 Baruch.

20:05 Speaker 11 In Jerusalem. No, at Michlalah Jerusalem College.

20:08 Speaker 9 Oh.

20:10 Speaker 1 That is why the mitzvos are called “the limbs of the King,” by way of analogy. The mitzvos are called the King’s limbs. This is a wonderful point of precision: “Just as the limbs of the human body are garments for the soul and are utterly nullified to it.” Where do we see that the limbs are nullified to the soul? “For as soon as it occurs to a person to extend his hand or his foot, they obey his will immediately, without any command or instruction to them and without any delay whatsoever, but at the very instant the desire arises.” Are we sure? Is what’s written here right?

20:55 Speaker 11 It depends what condition the limbs are in.

20:59 Speaker 1 Ah, let’s try to think of body parts for which it isn’t like that.

21:04 Speaker 11 The brain.

21:05 Speaker 9 The heart.

21:06 Speaker 11 The ear.

21:06 Speaker 9 To move—to move the ear. Where—

21:09 Speaker 11 Yes, yes.

21:12 Speaker 9 Want to see it again?

21:13 Speaker 1 I can move my ears.

21:15 Speaker 9 Yes.

21:18 Speaker 1 You can’t control the heart. A person wants to stop his heart, or make it beat faster—he has no control over it. The heart is not nullified to the soul’s will. Right? The lungs: he wants to stop breathing, wants to kill himself by stopping breathing. He can’t. The lungs are not nullified to the soul’s will. The stomach, the entire digestive system—all the internal organs are not nullified to the soul’s will. The internal organs live from the soul, but they are not nullified to it. What is nullified to the soul? Only the external limbs. It’s extraordinary. And indeed, when our Sages list the limbs—there is a list of limbs in the Mishnah—the heart isn’t there, the liver isn’t there. Only the limbs that can be moved. Why?

22:17 Speaker 11 Ears.

22:18 Speaker 1 Huh? I think so.

22:22 Speaker 9 Maybe when Moshiach comes, we’ll all be able to.

22:25 Speaker 1 No, it’s... not about moving... No, it’s that a person generally can’t move them because there’s no particular reason to do it, so it’s a muscle you don’t exercise. But if you practice, you can.

22:37 Speaker 11 Yes, it’s...

22:38 Speaker 1 When I was... I’ll tell you a story to show just how possible it is.

22:41 Speaker 11 Okay.

22:41 Speaker 1 When I was a child, there was a man on our kibbutz named Leon. He was French, and he knew how to move his ears. He used to play with them; once he was playing with us, playing with the children. Anyway, one time he teased me that he could move his ears, and I decided that wasn’t how it was going to be. If he could do it, I could too. I practiced until I could do it myself, and I still can today.

23:10 Speaker 9 Yummy. The question of—

23:11 Speaker 11 Can you—

23:11 Speaker 9 Right now, here.

23:12 Speaker 1 Huh?

23:13 Speaker 9 Now.

23:13 Speaker 1 I can, yes. I don’t want to, but I can.

23:18 Speaker 9 No, because it’s been a long time since...

23:19 Speaker 1 Come and see what I’m telling you. This isn’t relevant right now.

23:23 Speaker 11 How frightening.

23:24 Speaker 9 No.

23:25 Speaker 1 It’s definitely a matter of practice, yes, from personal experience. I don’t know about at an older age, but when you’re young it’s simply a matter of practice.

23:34 Speaker 11 If it matters to you.

23:36 Speaker 1 But there are limbs... What, why is that? Because the very definition of a limb, the definition of limbs, is precisely that they are subservient to the soul’s will. What is a limb? What purpose does a limb serve? The entire purpose of the limbs is to enable the soul to act in the world. The whole reason the hand exists—why does a person need a hand? So that he can—

24:04 Speaker 9 Give tzedakah.

24:07 Speaker 1 From the perspective of the G-dly soul, so that... From the perspective of the G-dly soul, so that he can eat. The limbs have no existence for their own sake. Their entire existence is so that the soul can unite with them. In other words, once there is a limb, the soul has somewhere to extend into, somewhere to reveal itself in this physical world. Right? So the Alter Rebbe says that mitzvos, in relation to Hashem’s will, are exactly like limbs in relation to the body. Just as the entire existence of a limb is to be subservient to the soul’s will, the soul doesn’t need to issue commands. The soul doesn’t need to command the hand to move. It wants to move, and the hand moves, because the hand’s whole purpose is to be subservient to the soul. Right? The same is true of mitzvos in relation to the Supernal Will. What is a mitzvah? A person doesn’t fulfill a mitzvah by doing something Hakadosh Boruch Hu didn’t ask for. Why is she lighting candles now? Because Hakadosh Boruch Hu commanded it. If Hakadosh Boruch Hu hadn’t commanded it, it wouldn’t exist at all. A mitzvah’s entire existence begins and ends with this: its purpose is to be a body for Hashem’s will. So just as the body is inherently subservient to the soul, mitzvos are subservient to the Supernal Will in exactly the same way. They unite with it joyfully, just as the body unites with the soul. Even though a mitzvah is something physical and the Supernal Will is, well, a supernal will. Right? The body is physical and the soul is spiritual, yet they come together, because the body’s whole purpose is to be subservient. Understood?

26:02 Speaker 9 Yes.

26:03 Speaker 1 So how does he state the application of the analogy? “Similarly, by way of analogy, the vitality of the acts of the mitzvos and their fulfillment is completely nullified before the Supernal Will vested in it, and becomes for it literally like a body to a soul.” What is the vitality of the acts of the mitzvos?

26:26 Speaker 9 The G-dly light that is drawn down.

26:28 Speaker 1 Hmm?

26:28 Speaker 9 The G-dly light that is drawn down.

26:32 Speaker 1 When a person fulfills a mitzvah, the Alter Rebbe says, there is some vitality here. The mitzvah is a physical thing, but there is a vitality that is now animating it. What vitality makes the mitzvah happen?

26:48 Speaker 9 The G-dly soul?

26:51 Speaker 1 The G-dly soul has no connection to this world. It doesn’t know what this world looks like.

26:56 Speaker 9 The animal soul.

26:57 Speaker 1 The animal soul. Simple. Once you think about it for a moment, it’s simple.

27:06 Speaker 9 What do you mean?

27:08 Speaker 1 The one that actually fulfills the mitzvah is the animal soul. The G-dly soul doesn’t know how to move the body’s limbs. That’s not its area. It is literally a part of G-d above. Even after it descended, it doesn’t—

27:24 Speaker 9 It’s spiritual.

27:25 Speaker 1 It’s spiritual. The animal soul is spiritual too, but the G-dly soul has no... it doesn’t know what this world is.

27:31 Speaker 9 What does “the vital soul” mean?

27:33 Speaker 1 The vital soul, the animal soul, the natural soul. It has all sorts of names—the vegetative soul and others. You can call it by all sorts of names, but the soul that animates the body is the one that becomes subservient to the Supernal Will like a body to a soul. We spoke about the animal soul, if you remember, in chapters 6, 7, and 8: it comes from the kelipos, from kelipas nogah and the sitra achra. But when a person fulfills a mitzvah, his animal soul is now animating that mitzvah. So his animal soul now becomes like a body to the Supernal Will. The Alter Rebbe says—yes, let’s continue—not just the animal soul. “Therefore, the outer garment of the G-dly soul in the person who fulfills and performs the mitzvah...” What is a garment? The G-dly soul has three garments: thought, speech, and action. The two inner garments are thought and speech. The third, outer garment is the garment of action. Whose garment of action? The G-dly soul’s. Ultimately, when the animal soul fulfills a mitzvah, it doesn’t do it because it feels like it. It does it because there is a G-dly soul here that has managed to overcome it and dictate what to do. So the G-dly soul itself cannot act. But what sets the animal soul in motion? The G-dly soul. Which faculty of the G-dly soul is setting the animal soul in motion now? The faculty of action. The person is doing something with his hands, right? The G-dly soul is something very spiritual that cannot be vested directly in them. But its faculty of action is vested in the animal soul. Now, if the vital soul becomes like a body to a soul, what would you say about the faculty of the G-dly soul that is vested in it? Doesn’t it become like a body to a soul? Of course it does too. Yes. It is vested in the vitality of the act of the mitzvah and also becomes like a body to a soul. So it’s not only the vital soul; it’s also the G-dly soul’s faculty of action. It is completely subservient to the Supernal Will, just like the vital soul. It—

29:50 Speaker 1 It doesn’t merely participate in the mitzvah; it causes the mitzvah to happen. He says: “And therefore”—meaning, for the same reason—not only the G-dly soul and the animal soul, but “also the limbs of the person’s body that fulfill the mitzvah.” After all, they’re the ones that actually fulfill it. The Supernal Will is certainly vested in them, since the G-dly soul’s faculty and power of action are vested in them at the time the animal soul fulfills the mitzvah. So the person’s limbs also become what? “An actual vehicle for the Supernal Will.” Now, regarding the limbs he no longer says they become like a body to a soul. Why? What is the difference between the vitality of the G-dly soul and the animal soul, and the limbs? Why does one become like a body to a soul, while the other is only a vehicle? What’s the difference between a body and a soul? What’s the difference between a body and a vehicle? The body is subservient to the soul; the vehicle is subservient to its rider, right? What’s the difference? It’s the same thing. It’s the same subservience.

31:10 Speaker 12 I—

31:11 Speaker 1 The vehicle is subservient to its rider in the same way the body is subservient to the soul.

31:16 Speaker 12 No.

31:16 Speaker 1 No. Why not? What’s the distinction?

31:21 Speaker 12 Does it have an independent existence or not?

31:24 Speaker 1 The vehicle has no independent will at all. It’s inanimate; it doesn’t care what you do with it.

31:31 Speaker 12 And the body?

31:34 Speaker 1 There’s a big difference. With the body, it happens automatically. A vehicle has to be directed. If you don’t turn the steering wheel of a car, it won’t know where you want to go. Right? You have to tell it, “Go there.” It won’t resist or do something else. It’s completely subordinate to you. But how? Like a vehicle. It doesn’t become one with you. It’s so subordinate to you that it has no will of its own, but it doesn’t become one with you. The body is subordinate to the soul automatically; you don’t need to direct it. It senses what the soul wants, and that’s what it does. It’s not just that doing something else never occurs to it. No. It’s not merely that it isn’t independent. It senses the soul, it becomes one with the soul, it is one with the soul. It senses what the soul wants, and that’s what it does. It has no separate presence there, right? So he says this: “The spiritual vitality of the animal soul and the divine soul are like a body to the supernal will. Hakadosh Boruch Hu wants a mitzvah to be done, the divine soul wants a mitzvah to be done, and the vital soul also wants a mitzvah to be done now, at this moment.” So they connect. But the body has to be directed. A person generally doesn’t do mitzvos automatically. He tells himself, “Now I need to do this.” Right? So his will to do it is truly like body and soul, but as for the action, the body has to be directed. Right? Okay? So the body, too—the body’s limbs, while a mitzvah is being performed, are also subordinate, but not like a body to a soul; only like a vehicle to its rider. That’s not bad either. “For example, the hand that distributes tzedakah to the poor or performs another mitzvah, and the feet that walk for the sake of a mitzvah. And not only that”—this is the emphasis here—“but also the mouth and tongue that speak

33:39 Speaker 1 words of Torah, and the mind that thinks about words of Torah.” So when one speaks—there are two things in the mitzvah of learning Torah. There is understanding Torah, and there is the mitzvah of speaking, of learning aloud, speaking words of Torah. A person can recite words of Torah, recite Tanya, recite Tehillim, without understanding a single word. But he is speaking; he is fulfilling the mitzvah of saying them, of pronouncing the words. There is also a mitzvah of understanding. If a person studies Torah in thought without saying it aloud, does he fulfill the mitzvah? Yes. These are two different things. Here he fulfills the mitzvah of understanding Torah, and there he fulfills the mitzvah of speaking words of Torah. Right? So when the mouth speaks words of Torah—even though they are words of Torah, and Torah is a matter of understanding—the mouth that speaks them doesn’t understand anything. It’s a mouth. A mouth doesn’t understand anything. So why should it be subordinate? Because the supernal will is revealed in it, it becomes a vehicle. It doesn’t become one with Hakadosh Boruch Hu like a body with a soul, but it, too, is a vehicle for the supernal will. The same applies to the mind. There is what the mind understands and what the mind thinks. Thinking means forming thoughts. Thoughts consist of letters, and we’ve said several times that letters are an action. Right? So what the mind understands becomes one, like a body with a soul. What the mind thinks in thought is only like a vehicle to its rider. The physical substance of the mind becomes subordinate; it is an organ. An organ. So all the body’s organs, even the brain, become subordinate while a mitzvah is being performed. They become subordinate to G-d’s will like a vehicle to its rider. “This is what our Sages meant when they said, ‘The Patriarchs are the chariot’: all their limbs were holy and set apart from the affairs of this world, and throughout their lives they became a vehicle for the supernal will alone.” With us, generally

36:04 Speaker 1 speaking, most people have times when they perform a mitzvah and times when they aren’t performing mitzvos. A person doesn’t perform mitzvos without interruption, right? So while I’m performing a mitzvah, my will and vital soul are subordinate, and my limbs are subordinate too. And when I’m not performing a mitzvah, they aren’t subordinate. But with the Patriarchs—why did our Sages say, “The Patriarchs are the chariot”? Because all their limbs were holy and set apart from the affairs of this world, and throughout their lives they became a vehicle for the supernal will alone. With us, even when I perform a mitzvah, it’s this hand that is now performing a mitzvah, this mind that is now thinking words of Torah, this foot that is now walking for the sake of a mitzvah. With the Patriarchs, all their limbs, without interruption, all the time, were a vehicle for the supernal will. That’s a level... In any case, up to this point he has said that, based on what we explained about the unity of Hashem, we can understand how, through Torah and mitzvos, a person becomes completely one with Hakadosh Boruch Hu. And if he becomes completely one with Hakadosh Boruch Hu, and the whole difference between holiness and the sitra achra, between “Anochi” and “Lo yihyeh lecha,” is whether that unity is revealed or not, then when I perform mitzvos I become one with Hakadosh Boruch Hu in a revealed way. So with every mitzvah I fulfill “Anochi”—“I am Hashem your G-d”—because through every mitzvah I become one with Hakadosh Boruch Hu. But he said that the unity achieved through mitzvos is only an explanation leading to the unity achieved through Torah. Right? In other words, he is proceeding from below upward. So if through mitzvos a person doesn’t merely... Through the performance of every mitzvah, the supernal will is fully revealed in the person, and his soul

38:23 Speaker 1 and his animal soul and his limbs become one with G-dliness. Well, what more could there be? Now he is going to explain what happens with Torah. “The thought and reflection on words of Torah in the mind, and the power of speech that speaks words of Torah in the mouth, which are the inner garments of the divine soul.” What were we talking about before? All the mitzvos. Which faculty of the divine soul is invested in them? The divine soul’s faculty of action. Right? When we speak about words of Torah, which faculties of the divine soul, which garments of the divine soul, are invested in them? Thought and speech—the two inner garments of the divine soul. “And all the more so, the divine soul itself is invested in them.” If the garments of the divine soul are invested in them and united with them, then all the more so the divine soul itself. “And all of them”—meaning the divine soul and its inner garments—“while Torah is being studied, are truly united in complete unity with the supernal will, and are not merely a vehicle.” What does “merely a vehicle” mean? When a person speaks words of Torah, what did we explain at the end of the previous section? He has a mind thinking about words of Torah and a mouth speaking words of Torah. And what are the mind and mouth? They’re...

40:17 Speaker 1 They’re a vehicle, right? As organs, they aren’t like a body and soul. Yes. But what about what’s happening within the mind and mouth? The understanding and the speech are not merely a vehicle, and they aren’t like a body to a soul. Rather, they are truly united in complete unity. What’s the difference between the unity of a body and soul—the body’s subordination to the soul—and complete unity? In other words, the Alter Rebbe says that while Torah is being studied, the inner garments of the divine soul are united with the supernal will much more than in all the other mitzvos. In all the other mitzvos, how is the soul united with the supernal will? Like a body with a soul. In Torah study, the divine soul becomes one with Hakadosh Boruch Hu not just like a body with a soul, but in complete unity. What does complete unity mean? There isn’t a body and a soul here. There is only the soul, only Hakadosh Boruch Hu. Why? When a person understands words of Torah, what are words of Torah? They are Hashem’s wisdom. Today, in a court of law, there’s... so-and-so. I was speaking not long ago with a lawyer about a law that says if such-and-such happens, you do such-and-such. I told him, “But in Torah, according to Torah, the law is different. A court operating according to Torah would rule differently.” That’s the law. This is how human intellect understands it, and this is how Hakadosh Boruch Hu understands it. If the person now understands what Hakadosh Boruch Hu understands, that isn’t two separate things. He understands. It’s one. There aren’t two here; there is only one. The supernal will is revealed within the person completely. What does “completely revealed” mean? He himself, the person, the divine soul—and not only the divine soul, but even the divine soul’s garments, thought and speech—become truly one with the supernal will. It’s not that the will is invested in them or revealed in them. They become one with it. And they

43:00 Speaker 1 Not merely a vehicle, for the supernal will is the very halachah he is thinking about and speaking about. After all, all the halachos are particular expressions of the inner supernal will. What are halachos? They’re what He wants. It arose in His will that this thing should be permitted, or kosher, or exempt, or innocent—or the opposite. What’s the opposite of permitted, kosher, exempt, innocent? Forbidden, liable. Right. Invalid. Impure. That’s what arose in His will. And not only is the halachic ruling the supernal will; every combination of letters in Tanach is an expression of His will and wisdom, which are united with Ein Sof, blessed be He. That’s already something new. As long as we’re talking about understanding, I now understand what Hakadosh Boruch Hu wants. Okay, so I understand it, and I’m united with Him, one with Him. No—not just the understanding. The letters you say. Whose letters are they? Who said those letters? Those letters are what Hakadosh Boruch Hu says. You’re saying His letters, so you and He are one. There aren’t two here. For He is the Knower and He is the Knowledge, and so on. And that is what is meant by “the Torah and Hakadosh Boruch Hu are entirely one,” and not merely “limbs of the King,” like all the other mitzvos. What further explanation is there here beyond what was explained in chapter 5? What’s explained here that wasn’t explained in chapter 5? There, it discussed—and chapter 4 also discusses how, through the three garments, a person becomes united with Hakadosh Boruch Hu—but when he learns Torah, he becomes united with His will and wisdom, and is truly united with Him. So there, too, it says that through Torah we become truly united with Hakadosh Boruch Hu. What further explanation is there here that isn’t there? Everything explained there... So that’s it? Are we out of time?

45:22 Speaker 13 No, no. I forgot last week.

45:25 Speaker 1 Ah.

45:25 Speaker 13 I mean, I was really concentrating and forgot to write it down. So I said, this time... I couldn’t believe I’d forgotten. That’s why I said, I’m putting [unclear].

45:41 Speaker 1 What was explained there? Why does a person become united with Hakadosh Boruch Hu through learning Torah? Because he understands, right? What understands? The mind understands. What about speech? Speech doesn’t understand, so it doesn’t become united. The limbs don’t understand, so they don’t become united. There, the discussion was about unity arising from a quality of the mind. The mind is a faculty with the ability to understand, and since we’re talking about understanding, the mind has a connection to G-dliness that the other limbs don’t have. That’s what it discusses there. Right? So—

46:21 Speaker 13 On this subject, someone said that the Jewish people don’t really understand the significance of Torah. That’s why they speak out against people who learn Torah—because they don’t understand. We haven’t explained its importance properly.

46:35 Speaker 1 The question is whether he can explain it properly.

46:39 Speaker 13 Well, I don’t know if he’ll address it. You’ll know who it is soon enough.

46:42 Speaker 1 There, it explains the person’s entire connection. True, it’s a unity unlike any other; they’re united from every angle, beyond comparison—all of that is true. But what becomes united with Hakadosh Boruch Hu? The mind. What about the other limbs? What? They have no connection. Anything that lacks the ability to understand cannot connect with Hakadosh Boruch Hu. What’s explained here? Here, the connection between Hakadosh Boruch Hu and the Torah is explained not in terms of the mind’s ability to understand, but in terms of the supernal will. Because Torah is the supernal will, anything that is nullified to the supernal will—how is it nullified? It is the supernal will. So it makes no difference whether it’s understanding, speech, or even the limbs, something physical. If it is nullified, the supernal will is revealed within it, whether or not it understands. So the unity explained here is, first of all, a much loftier unity. And because it is much loftier, the unity is with a loftier level—not just a level connected to understanding, but the will itself. That’s why it penetrates not only the mind, but lower and lower, all the way to the person’s physical being. Now we understand why this is a further explanation. It’s not just an addition; the addition is greater than the main point. It’s really a different explanation. And since—let’s continue with the next passage. “And since the supernal will is united with Ein Sof, blessed be He, in absolute unity, completely revealed and not concealed in any way whatsoever”—certainly not concealed in the G-dly soul, and not concealed even in its inner garments, its thought and speech, while the person is engaged in words of Torah—“therefore the soul and these garments, too, are truly united with Ein Sof, blessed be He, at that time in absolute

48:49 Speaker 1 unity.” Like what? Like what we explained in the previous chapters. “And with this, it will be understood”—that’s how the chapter began. Right? Yes? “Like the unity of the speech or thought of Hakadosh Boruch Hu with His essence and being, as explained above in the previous chapters.” What did he explain earlier? How does Hakadosh Boruch Hu create all the worlds? Through speech. Ah, if it’s through speech, you might say speech is something separate. No, the speech of Hakadosh Boruch Hu isn’t separate. Fine, but speech is significant. No, the speech of Hakadosh Boruch Hu is of no significance—just a word compared to the soul itself. Right? Ah, fine, but you might say it has still gone outside, hasn’t it? It hasn’t gone outside either. It’s included in its source and root. It has no existence of its own. He spent three chapters explaining that at length. Right? So when a person speaks words of Torah, since those words are the very essence of the supernal will, and it is revealed to him—to the person—completely openly; he understands, he understands. Right? So... that means... I don’t know. You can’t put it into words. It’s simply frightening to say it.

50:01 Speaker 3 What is?

50:02 Speaker 1 That the essence and being of the supernal will is present in a person’s soul, completely revealed, while he speaks words of Torah.

50:15 Speaker 3 That’s frightening to say, too.

50:19 Speaker 1 It frightens me.

50:20 Speaker 3 We’ll see. Because you’re speaking words of Torah.

50:25 Speaker 1 Every time a person speaks words of Torah. Think about the analogy. When you say—

50:32 Speaker 3 Then you can make a bracha.

50:33 Speaker 1 Think about the analogy. When someone tells his friend, “Do you know how great our king is? Wow!”—praising him, right? He can go on endlessly about the Rebbe’s greatness. But when he enters a room with the Rebbe, even if there are another hundred people there, he’s two meters away from the Rebbe, and he’s no longer quite so at ease. Later, when he approaches the Rebbe and the Rebbe places a dollar in his hand, he simply faints. The closer he gets—if he recognizes the greatness of the Rebbe, the greatness of the king—the more the Rebbe, the king, is revealed to him, the more awestruck he becomes.

51:20 Speaker 3 We have a picture at home of Michael receiving a dollar from the Rebbe, and you can see in his eyes the—the...

51:26 Speaker 1 The awe.

51:27 Speaker 3 That awe, yes, absolutely.

51:32 Speaker 1 There was one time—I’ve told this story several times. It was actually just an ordinary weekday. It was around Iyar—I traveled for 12–13 Tammuz. I went one year, 5748.

51:45 Speaker 3 One year.

51:49 Speaker 1 5748. And they held the prayers inside the Rebbe’s room.

51:53 Speaker 3 At home.

51:54 Speaker 1 At home. And I saw there a couple of... There were several dollar distributions during that... After prayers—there were several after prayers. So one time, when the Rebbe was inside his home, he began distributing dollars for tzedakah immediately after prayers. I joined the line, and when I reached the Rebbe, everything went black before my eyes. A few steps later, I fainted.

52:19 Speaker 3 Where? Where was that?

52:21 Speaker 1 Inside the Rebbe’s home. I really lost my... I didn’t actually fall. My vision just physically went black, and...

52:32 Speaker 3 Yes, yes.

52:32 Speaker 1 From fear. The Rebbe never did anything to me.

52:38 Speaker 3 Wow.

52:38 Speaker 1 But when you recognize the king’s greatness, the closer you are to him, the more you become physically afraid, for no apparent reason. That is called awe of his greatness. Now, when we say that a person studying Torah is close to the King—is he merely close to the King? He is one with the King. Which King? His very Essence and Being. When a person thinks about that, he is simply terrified. Literally. The Rebbe will speak about this in a moment. Let’s read this passage again. Since the Supernal Will is united with the Ein Sof, blessed be He, in absolute unity, and is completely revealed, with no concealment whatsoever, in the G-dly soul and its inner garments—its thought or speech—at the time a person engages in Torah study, that soul and those garments are also actually united with the Ein Sof, blessed be He, at that time in absolute unity, like the unity of Hakadosh Boruch Hu’s own speech and thought. In other words, just as Hashem’s speech, which creates all the worlds, is united with His Essence and Being and included there somewhere—I don’t know, above—so too, right now, my G-dly soul and my animal soul, and the thought and speech of the G-dly soul, are included in His Essence and Being. His Essence and Being are fully revealed in them. They actually become one with Him. Because nothing is separate except through concealment. What did we discuss in the previous chapters? The entire difference between holiness and the sitra achra is that here it is revealed. So if it is revealed in me now, then “I am Hashem your G-d” is present in me every time I speak words of Torah. There is no difference between “I am Hashem your G-d” and a person studying Torah. It is the same thing. Moreover, even the unity of the garments is more intense and more powerful. More than what? More than the unity of the light of the Ein Sof, blessed be He, with the higher worlds. What are the higher worlds?

54:55 Speaker 3 Atzilus.

54:56 Speaker 1 All the way up to Atzilus. When a person studies Torah, the light of the Ein Sof is revealed in his soul more than it is in the world of Atzilus. Why? Because the Supernal Will is actually revealed in the soul and its garments while they engage in Torah study. In the world of Atzilus, the light of the Ein Sof is not actually revealed—only an illumination from the Ein Sof. For the Torah itself is that Will, while all the higher worlds receive their vitality only from the light and vitality drawn from the Torah, which is His will and wisdom. As it is written, “You made them all with wisdom.” Hakadosh Boruch Hu made all the worlds through wisdom. That wisdom is the Torah, and all the worlds receive their vitality from the Torah only in the manner of something made. So wisdom, which is the Torah, is above them all. It is His will, called sovev kol almin—something that cannot be enclothed within the worlds, but only gives life to and illuminates the higher worlds from above, in an encompassing manner. Yet that same G-dly light, that same Torah, that same Supernal Will that cannot be enclothed in the world of Atzilus, is actually enclothed in the soul and its garments in a revealed manner when they engage in Torah study. Someone might ask: Where is it? The Alter Rebbe says, “Although he does not see it,” and adds in parentheses: “That is why he can bear it—because he does not see it—unlike the beings above.” You surely know the story in the parsha of Bilaam, about the donkey. There is a wonderful story there about the donkey. Among other things, it says that the angel appears to her, she sees him and speaks to him, while Bilaam does not see him.

56:58 Speaker 4 That’s not it. With the others, that doesn’t work. It’s...

57:02 Speaker 1 And Bilaam does not see him. So Rashi comments on that. How can it be that Bilaam, the great prophet—it says Bilaam was a prophet like Moshe Rabbeinu—does not see an angel, while the donkey does? What is going on? Rashi explains: On the contrary, precisely because she is a donkey, there is no problem with her seeing him. Human beings have understanding. If they saw angels, their minds would be overwhelmed. A donkey has no understanding; she can see one without being disturbed.

57:31 Speaker 4 Wow, actually... Just thinking about all the angels that have been here in our time.

57:36 Speaker 1 Yes. “A thousand at your right and ten thousand at your left.” Yes, frightening. You don’t see them. Hakadosh Boruch Hu. What?

57:47 Speaker 4 I thought there were two.

57:48 Speaker 1 What do you mean, two?

57:49 Speaker 4 One here, one here—I mean, two. If the angels don’t...

57:51 Speaker 1 It says, “A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right.” What do we say in Krias Shema before bed? There are plenty. The air of Gan Eden and the air of Gehinnom extend around every person. That is also written in Tanya.

58:09 Speaker 4 Wow, wow.

58:10 Speaker 1 All his good deeds are recorded in the air extending from Gan Eden. All his words and thoughts are recorded in the air extending from Gehinnom. There are many spiritual things here. So, on the contrary, if a person could perceive the meaning of the light of the Ein Sof, he could not bear it. In the world of Atzilus, they conceal the light of the Ein Sof. Why? Because in the world of Atzilus everything is revealed. If the light of the Ein Sof were revealed there, there would be no world. It could not bear it; it would cease to exist. Because a person does not feel it, the light of the Ein Sof can be fully revealed in him. It does not disturb him—just as seeing the angel did not disturb the donkey. A person can understand words of Torah. “I understand. Yes, I understand it all.” Excellent. You now understand the Supernal Will. You are becoming one with the Supernal Will. Very nice. But you don’t feel it. The Alter Rebbe is saying: Do you grasp what it means to understand words of Torah? You are becoming one with the Will, with His Essence and Being. It is revealed without any concealment whatsoever. You don’t feel it? The fact that you don’t feel it is an advantage. Otherwise it could not be present in you; you would cease to exist. If the world of Atzilus would cease to exist, all the more so would you. This explains why engaging in Torah study is so much greater than all the mitzvos, even prayer. After all, prayer brings about the unification of the higher worlds. So how can Torah study take precedence over prayer? It says that someone whose Torah study is his occupation would pray only once every thirty days, or perhaps not even that. He is studying Torah; he is becoming one with G-dliness. Are we going to interrupt him now with prayer? Yes. But wait: doesn’t the Shulchan Aruch say that a person may not study all the time, that he has to pray three times a day? So how

1:00:19 Speaker 1 does that fit? The Alter Rebbe says: Someone whose Torah study is not his occupation does have to stop; he is obligated to. That is because he stops studying anyway. You cannot study Torah without interruption, can you? So during the time you are not studying Torah, at least bring about higher unifications. Pray. But that obligation comes from a shortcoming, not from a superior quality of prayer. You are obligated to pray not because of prayer’s advantage, but because of your own limitation: you cannot study Torah without interruption. In principle, Torah study is certainly far higher than prayer. And from this, a thoughtful person can draw upon himself great awe while engaging in Torah study. In serving Hashem, there is lesser awe and greater awe. Sometimes these are called yirah tata’ah and yirah ila’ah. Yirah tata’ah, lesser awe, is fear of sin. Higher awe is awe born of shame. We have discussed this many times, right? We’ll go into it more another time; this is not the time to expand on the subject. But fear of sin means that a person fears the sin itself, not punishment. We are not talking about fear of punishment. He loves Hakadosh Boruch Hu. He does not want to rebel against Him. That is fear of sin. It too has several levels—at least five general levels. But with higher awe, awe of His greatness, awe born of shame, he recognizes His greatness. He reflects on how his soul and its garments in his mind and mouth are actually united with Him in absolute unity. He is not merely close to the King; he is united with the King, with Hashem’s very will, which is revealed in them. What is revealed in them? That before which all the higher and lower worlds are considered nothing, truly nonexistent. So much so that it cannot be enclothed within them: that which is sovev kol almin. Yet for him it is revealed inwardly and enclothed within him. Yes, only an illumination

1:02:26 Speaker 1 is enclothed within the worlds—the amount they can bear without completely ceasing to exist. But in him, it is now revealed. So he experiences awe of His greatness, great awe. This is what the verse means: “And Hashem commanded us all these statutes, to fear Hashem,” and so on. What is difficult about the verse? In other words, now, in light of this, we understand the verse, “And Hashem commanded us all these statutes, to fear.” Without this explanation, we would not understand it. What does the verse say? Why does Hakadosh Boruch Hu command us to observe the statutes? Observe the statutes so that you will come to fear Hashem. Is that the order? Which comes first?

1:03:14 Speaker 5 Fear, right?

1:03:15 Speaker 1 At first glance, it’s simple: a person who isn’t G-d-fearing won’t keep the mitzvos. What, if I keep the mitzvos, then I’ll have fear of G-d? What’s going on here? Right? But he explains that it is about this great fear that they said, “If there is no wisdom, there is no fear.” Our Sages said in Pirkei Avos, “If there is no wisdom, there is no fear; if there is no fear, there is no wisdom.” If you don’t have fear, you’ll never have wisdom. If you don’t have wisdom, you’ll never have fear. So where do we start? Where do we begin?

1:03:59 Speaker 5 If a person has daas, he’ll be afraid.

1:04:03 Speaker 1 The fear mentioned here isn’t the fear mentioned there. “If there is no fear, there is no wisdom”: if you don’t have lower fear, fear of sin, you won’t observe the statutes. “If there is no wisdom”: if you don’t have wisdom—if you don’t keep the mitzvos and the statutes and study Torah—you won’t reach higher fear. Lower fear, fear of sin, leads a person to observe the statutes. But reaching higher fear is only through wisdom, only through Torah, only through contemplating what Torah study means. In relation to this fear, Torah is called only “a gate to the dwelling”—the gate to the home, the gate to the courtyard. In relation to this fear, Torah is only the entrance, only the beginning. As it says elsewhere, “Not every mind can bear this”—this kind of fear. There are people who contemplate this and still aren’t afraid. There’s a Jew here in Afula. There’s a video of him approaching the Rebbe on Lag BaOmer and extending his hand, and the Rebbe shakes his hand. Every time he comes to daven at our shul, he tells how everyone was afraid, but he went up and shook the Rebbe’s hand, and... he doesn’t feel the fear. What can you do? He sees it as a great virtue. Right? He doesn’t understand that he simply doesn’t—

1:05:48 Speaker 5 That level.

1:05:49 Speaker 1 Right. There are people who, even after all the study, sit and contemplate it, but it just doesn’t enter them. The fear doesn’t enter. What can you do? He isn’t a refined person; he isn’t a... So the Alter Rebbe says: “Not every mind can bear this kind of fear. But even someone whose mind cannot bear any of this fear at all—not even a trace of it.” He understands what ought to be, but such fear has nothing to do with him. Why? “Because of the low stature of his soul, whose root and source are in the lower levels of the ten sefiros of Asiyah.” It isn’t his fault. If a person contemplates this and doesn’t feel this kind of fear, apparently his soul is in a place where it cannot feel it. “But this fear does not prevent him from acting, as will be explained below.” In practice, this fear doesn’t hold him back. In what way doesn’t it hold him back? It doesn’t prevent him from acting. What does “acting” mean? What action are we talking about that the lack of fear doesn’t prevent?

1:06:59 Speaker 5 Mitzvos.

1:07:00 Speaker 1 Hmm?

1:07:00 Speaker 5 Mitzvos.

1:07:02 Speaker 1 So first of all, the straightforward meaning is that it doesn’t prevent him from doing the mitzvos. It’s enough for a person to contemplate this for his soul—his hidden love—to awaken and cause him to keep mitzvos, even if he hasn’t felt the fear. First of all, the fact that you don’t actually feel the fear doesn’t hold you back. One, it isn’t your fault; two, it doesn’t interfere. Know that this is what’s happening; for our purposes, that’s enough. That’s one interpretation. There’s a deeper interpretation. What have we been talking about here? The actual occurrence of the union. The fact that you don’t feel the union doesn’t prevent the union from actually taking place. The union exists. It doesn’t hold it back or interfere. So you can rest easy. First, then, he has explained the matter. And this doesn’t affect the whole point of the chapter either. What did the Rebbe want to show in this chapter? That every single mitzvah is an expression of “I am Hashem your G-d.” That’s what we wanted to show, right? What’s the idea? As we saw, the vital soul and the G-dly soul—and especially through Torah study. With every mitzvah a Jew performs, he is now fulfilling “I am Hashem your G-d.” “I am Hashem your G-d” means the revelation of the supernal will. Hakadosh Boruch Hu reveals Himself. That’s the opposite of the sitra achra, right? He reveals Himself. Every mitzvah reveals the supernal will in the soul. Whether you feel it or not doesn’t interfere. Right? Now, in the next chapter, the Rebbe will explain the—we said that with everything, you also have to explain the other side. Now he has to explain how every negative commandment is a particular expression of “You shall have no other gods.” That will be the next chapter, and afterward, at the end, the Rebbe brings it all together into one idea.